News Analysis: Foreign intervention main reason behind prolonged Syria crisis

As the Syria crisis enters its fifth year with no tangible political solution in sight, Syrian politicians blame foreign intervention for the protracted conflict.

FOREIGN INTERFERENCE COMPLICATES CRISIS

Many domestic reasons, including social, economic and political ones, were behind the breakout of the Syria crisis in 2011.

At first, the Syrians were inspired by the movements in other Arab countries. But later on, different foreign forces intervened to seek their own interests due to the strategic importance of Syria and its political status, with little care given to the real interests of the Syrians.

Political experts say the foreign involvement, mainly that of the West, had changed the political landscape, turning the Syrian people's aspiration for a better life into a bitter struggle for foreign interests on Syrian soil.

"The Syria crisis has entered its fifth year because of the Arab and Western intervention in the crisis," Mahmud Muri, a Syrian politician, told Xinhua on Saturday.

"There are countries that supported the insurgency with arms and weapons and financed the rebels and terrorist organizations, and that's why the Syria crisis has not ended yet, which resulted from foreign support for the terrorist groups in Syria," Muri said.

Safwan Akkasheh, a leading member in the oppositional National Coordination Body (NCB), also expressed the same view.

"One of the most important factors behind the ongoing conflict in Syria is the foreign intervention. All of the countries that are interfering in the crisis are doing so out of their own interests and selfishness, and their interests are generally against those of the Syrian people," he told Xinhua.

Akkasheh, meanwhile, pointed out that the foreign intervention had not only been carried out by Western countries, but by regional and Arab countries alike.

"These interventions are not only confined to the Western countries ... Of course, some Western countries are overtly intervening. But there are other regional and neighboring countries which are also negatively involved in Syria's crisis," he said.

He added that the intervention would further complicate the situation unless such powers halted their negative involvement.H "Unfortunately, everyone now is interfering in the Syria conflict, such as the parties or groups like the Lebanese Hezbollah on the side of the government, and also jihadist organizations like the Islamic State (IS) on the opposition side," he said.

"So given all of these facts, I think the landscape in the country is going to be more complicated," he added.

Maher Murhej, head of the Youth Party, also shared the opinion that the foreign intervention is the main reason behind the long-running crisis, adding there are other reasons, mainly the presence of radicals on both sides in the conflict.

"The reason behind the continuous conflict is the radicals from both sides, whether from the government side, which refused to bow to the moderate opposition, or the opposition party, whose radicals rejected any political solution," he said.

He stressed that "most certainly the main reason for the conflict is the foreign intervention."

He said the international conflict, which could be termed as a proxy war in Syria, is still going on, which has dimmed chances for a political settlement of the crisis.

"There are foreign countries that nurtured the armed insurgency by providing armed men or armament. So far there is no real international will to end the crisis politically, because some countries are still vying for more influence on Syria for the post-crisis era," he explained.

TERRORISM THREATS SHOULD SHIFT FOREIGN POLICIES

With the foreign intervention appearing to be the main reason for the intractable conflict, political analysts say that threats of terrorism could push the foreign countries to change their policies on the Syria crisis.

That means those countries would at least make some efforts to work on real solutions to the conflict, so as to avert the negative repercussions of radicalism in their own territories.

"Certainly, the presence and the growing threat of the IS militants have terrorized all countries. This monster has lured many Western men to join its ranks and those militants would return to their home countries radicalized," Murhej told Xinhua.

He noted that adequate measures should be undertaken to quell the threats of terrorism in the fifth year of the crisis, in order to reach a political solution.

"I think the fifth year would be decisive in the course of the crisis, because if adequate measures have not been taken to find solutions to the crisis or to fight terrorism such as the IS, we would be heading toward plenty of hard years of conflict in the region, where the threats of the IS would further grow," he said.

Murhej said that the Western powers and those involved in the Syria crisis must review their policies.

"If they fail to take tough measures in fighting the IS in Syria, the region will even face more radical threats than those the al-Qaeda had once posed."

He noted that the IS group is more dangerous than al-Qaeda and that the international community must be fully aware of it.

"That is why I say this year is going to be crucial in the course of the Syria crisis," he said.

The Western and regional countries should really consider shifting their positions toward Syria to avert the growing danger of terrorism, which would otherwise spread to their own countries, added the expert. Endi